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Re: These misterous bees

For some reason the "M" word is just not mentionable in some circles. Any suggestions as to why a hive died would be considered, but NOT mxxxs. Seen it over and over.

Calbee there is not enough info to say why your hive died. If you can post a pic of the brood that would be very helpful.

However if you don't post one, I would have to agree with the others, the info you have posted thus far is very consistent with a hive dying from mite overload. However, within the possibilities from the info supplied thus far, could be queenlessness, or a number of other things also, which is where a brood pic would come in handy to help ID. But hives that die of mites often dwindle down quickly at the end, in exactly the manner you have described, to me, mites is the 95% likely reason at this point. A pic and more info will be helpful.

Also please bear in mind, these folks are not being unfriendly. Sometimes the answer we don't want to hear is the one we need to hear, and likewise seeking out the answer we want to hear, may lead us to the wrong answer.

Re: These misterous bees

I am two hours from Calbees. I don't see many mites on my bees either. But, these are the mites I found on a Warre inspection board yesterday. It is a hive from a package that is declining and will probably fail. The package supplier said last year, "if you don't treat my bees they will fail".